Summary

Description

Ancula gibbosa is a translucent cream or white nudibranch reaching lengths of up to 33 mm. The rhinophores and gills have coloured tips; the tips of the pallial and rhinophoral processes are usually bright yelllow or orange, rarely white. The foot margins may also be yellow. The rhinophores have crinkly stalks which are cylindrical in the region of the lamellae and swollen medially. Elongate processes issue from the rhinophore stalk rather than from the head, and the oral tentacles are also elongate and finger like.

Recorded distribution in Britain and Ireland

Found all around the British Isles.

Global distribution

-

Habitat

Ancula gibbosa may be found under rocks in shallow water and offshore to around 110 m. Known to eat the colonial ascidians Diplosoma listerianum, Botryllus schlosseri and Botrylloides leachi, Ancula gibbosa may also feed on the erect bryozoans with which it is commonly found.

Depth range

-

Identifying features

Translucent cream or white

2 longer processes projecting forward from the base of each rhinophore

The information (TEXT ONLY) provided by the Marine Life Information Network (MarLIN) is licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales License. Note that images and other media featured on this page are each governed by their
own terms and conditions and they may or may not be available for reuse. Permissions beyond the scope of this license are available here. Based on a work at www.marlin.ac.uk